Ladder racks for use with vehicles are known devices. Typically, the ladder rack functions to retain a ladder on the vehicle, such as on the roof of the vehicle, to free up space within the vehicle. In some cases, the ladders are too large to fit within an interior the vehicle and therefore must be stored on the outside of the vehicle.
Conventional ladder racks are to be fixed in place. However the conventional ladder racks, do not present the ladder to the user in an ergonomically correct manner. As a result, the conventional ladder racks ultimately result in injury to the user(s) as they stretch and/or strain to put the ladder onto the ladder rack and/or take the ladder off of the ladder rack.
Additionally, the conventional ladder racks suffer from the disadvantage that when lowered, they block vital portions of the vehicle that need to be accessed. For example, the conventional ladder racks lower directly in front of the rear door(s) and/or side door(s) of a vehicle. As a result, when the conventional ladder racks are lowered, they prevent the user(s), owners) and/or operator(s) from being able to access the interior of the vehicle. Additionally, in the case of vehicles that have exterior storage bin(s), locker(s) and/or compartment(s), the conventional ladder racks when lowered prevent the user(s), owner(s) and/or operator(s) from being able to access these areas as well.
Furthermore, the conventional ladder racks also significantly increase the overall profile of the vehicle. For example, many conventional ladder racks add many inches, if not feet, to the overall height of the vehicle. Ladder rack assemblies are not installed on vehicles by original equipment manufactures (OEMs) and are therefore added as optional aftermarket parts. When these vehicles are transported by using a rail car, the rail cars are not high enough or tall enough to accommodate the vehicle with the ladder rack installed thereon. This is because the rail cars are designed to receive and transport the vehicle as dispatched from the OEM and do not take into account any additional height or width that one or more aftermarket parts may add to the vehicle. As a result, this increases the overall costs associated with the shipping of the vehicle to the owner(s) and/or operator(s) of the vehicle.
The additional height added to the vehicle by the conventional ladder rack assemblies is also disadvantageous, particularly for transport purposes, as it places an undue limitation on the places that the vehicle can go. As a result, this may require the operator of the vehicle to take a less direct rout which typically results in more travel time, less work time, loss profits, increased vehicle maintenance expenses and/or increased fuel costs. Additionally, the additional height of the conventional ladder rack assembly may prevent the vehicle from getting close to the work site which. This results in increased vehicle unloading times, increased vehicle loading times, reduced working time, injury to workers due to the increased stress and/or strain on the worker's body to transport the ladder and/or tools the increased distance to the vehicle. As a result, the additional height of the conventional ladder rack assemblies aids in increasing the overall costs associated with the ladder rack assembly.
As a result, it would therefore be advantageous to develop a ladder rack assembly that can be easily raised and lowered, that is easily and safely accessible by an owner(s) and/or operator(s) when in the lowered position, has a compact nature such that it can be easily shipped after being installed onto the vehicle, and does not block and/or obstruct and window(s), door(s) and/or storage area(s) of the vehicle when the ladder rack in the lowered position.